Press Review

“Zhoghovurd” writes on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s upcoming visit to Moscow. “It is remarkable that the visit of the head of the Armenian government to Moscow comes one week after the September 1 meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Then Putin and Aliyev also exchanged views on the Karabakh conflict. It is expected that the Karabakh issue will also be addressed at the Putin-Pashinian meeting. It appears that this subject is slowly getting back on the agenda,” the paper observes.

On the same subject “Haykakan Zhamanak” writes: “It’s a fact that the Armenian-Russian dialogue, far from having stopped, is only developing in a new spirit. Nevertheless, it is necessary to note that the September 8 meeting between Pashinian and Putin will be more difficult as compared to the previous two meetings. The difficulty is first of all conditioned by the recent Putin-Aliyev meeting during which the two parties also discussed the Karabakh issue. This issue is certain to come up also at the September 8 meeting. The sides may try to come to a common denominator on the agenda and format of restarting negotiations. It is not ruled out that Putin, as head of one of the countries chairing the OSCE Minsk Group, will act as a mediator and present to Pashinian Aliyev’s vision of conflict settlement – if there is any.”

“Zhamanak” comments on the decision by the Special Investigation Service not to allow ex-president Robert Kocharian, who is charged with overthrowing the constitutional order, to leave Armenia pending investigation: “This decision comes shortly after Kocharian revealed his intention to leave the country… Interestingly, Kocharian decided to leave Armenia for several days ahead of the hearing of his case at the Court of Cassation. Of course, the date of the hearing is not known yet, but there is still an intrigue here as it is not clear whether there will be a new decision on arresting Kocharian or not. Another interesting point is that Kocharian’s decision to leave coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s congratulations on his birthday on August 31, which were perceived by many as support.”